Chapter 623: Braxton Higgs
Braxton was actually speechless. He tried to utter a word, but it just came out as nothing more than unintelligible grunts.
He didn’t know which to be surprised at: the fact that Michael had four element masteries, or the fact that he could do the stacking technique even though he’d only seen it once.
"How... that’s... HUH?!"
Even though Braxton was hailed as a once in a thousand year genius of the Mystic Arts, it still took him a couple of years before he mastered the technique of stacking magic circles. And even then, he was still one of the fastest people to ever learn it.
But now, he was looking at a boy three years younger than him perform the same technique he spent years mastering.
There was no way that Michael could have learned it before this. The technique was locked in their vault, and the only way one could learn it was if they were recommended by a Mystic Master to study at the Guild of Arcana to become a Mystic Master.
Just then, Michael’s stacked magic circles started to shake with instability.
Braxton knew that this would happen. After all, Michael couldn’t have grasped the magic theory without a year of learning textbooks.
Still, it was very impressive that he could even stack the magic circles together.
But just a couple of seconds later, the magic circles started to suck the mana in the surrounding area, using it to stabilize its structure.
It was long after that did mana in the magic circle coalesce into the form of a pig, one that had a body made out of Earth, a skin made out of water, flames billowing out around it, and was floating in mid-air.
Braxton was once again speechless.
He did it.
Michael not only executed the technique to completion, but he also did it in the hardest way possible.
The combination of the four basic elements, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air always resulted in an enormous explosion of mana. This was why performing the technique with those mana was almost impossible and only existed in theory.
"OINK!"
Braxton stared wide-eyed at the magnificent pig in front of him. He was completely enamored.
"You... you have four—"
And just as Braxton turned around to question Michael about his talent in the Mystic Arts, he saw him creating a new set of magic circles in the air.
And this time, the colors of these ones were completely different from the ones before.
Michael was trying to create another combination of the four other elements: Light, Dark, Poison, and Lightning.
"EIGHT ELEMENT MASTERIES?!"
Braxton exploded out, unable to control his surprise anymore.
Michael ignored him and summoned a new pig, one that was completely the opposite of the first pig he created. It had all the elements he used combined into one, without creating any destructive reactions from the mana.
I can now combine four elements together with this. But using all eight and creating eight elements is still too complicated for now.
He’d have to either learn the technique from the Guild of Arcana, or ask Braxton if he knew how.
"Hey, I know that we’re in the middle of the fight—"
Just as he was speaking to Braxton, the guy suddenly jumped into the two elemental pigs and hugged them tightly.
Michael cringed away after seeing that, knowing the inevitable that would happen.
As Braxton hugged the two piggies, the eight elements assaulted his body, making his hair stand up on end as if he was electrocuted.
Taking the full brunt of the energy, Braxton kept hugging the pigs without care, even if it was injuring him.
Once the energy was depleted, the pigs dematerialized and Braxton fell to the ground, face first, with his body still smoking from being incinerated.
"... worth it..."
This guy is definitely crazy, Micheal though, shaking his head.
A second later, Braxton jumped up from the ground with renewed vigor. He looked at Michael with a huge smile on his face.
And with a smile, Braxton opened his arms and charged at Michael, as if wanting to crush him to death.
Michael immediately jumped away.
"Don’t run away~~~"
Of course, this was just a signal for Michael to run away harder.
Braxton casted a spell, creating a lasso made out of water to catch Michael before he could run away.
Michael raised his hand and wrestled for control over Braxton’s lasso.
Just as the water lasso was catch Michael in its loop, it suddenly stopped in its tracks. It shivered for a second before reversing its trajectory and looping around Braxton instead, making him trip and lose his balance.
"SO YOU CAN CONTROL EVEN MY OWN MANA!" Braxton bellowed out in excitement. "You’re the most interesting person I’ve ever met!"
Braxton broke out of his own lasso and started running towards Michael again.
"PLEASE BE MY FRIEND~~~~"
Michael stopped in his tracks, turning around with a confused look on his face.
"What?"
"Please be my friend!" Braxton pleaded.
In a game meant for fighting, it was really weird to hear someone say that they wanna be your friend.
"Why?"
"Because you can understand me! No one has ever been more talented than me, so that means we can be friends!"
For a brief moment, Michael saw a flash of pain in Braxton’s eyes. There was loneliness in his gaze, one that he frequently saw in the mirror back in his previous life
He went silent.
He completely forgot that people had different upbringings than him. When he showed off his talents, all the people around him completely supported him with praise. He also found friends and allies who accepted him for who he was.
But Braxton could have lived a completely different life.
He might have been outcast for being too talented in the mystic arts. He could have been bullied, ostracized, for standing head and shoulders above others, making him feel alone.
So in Braxton’s mind, he thought that he could only have a real friendship with someone that was much more talented than he was, that way, no one would be jealous and ruin the friendship.
It was kind of sad.
"Hmm... I guess I could be your friend."
Braxton immediately perked up. "Really?!" He then charged towards Michael, wanting a hug.
"Woah, there buddy—"
But it was too late. He was bear hugged by the chubby Braxton.
"Umm, can you let me go now?"
Braxton finally pulled away, but still had the biggest smile on his face. "Hehe... now I have a friend!"
Michael chuckled, feeling a bit embarrassed. Braxton wasn’t all that bad of a guy. The man just needed a hug.
"Ahem... so can I go to the center now? I still really want to get the drops."
Braxton immediately nodded. "Sure, sure! As long as we’re still besties after the auction!"
Besties?
"Okay, thanks."
But then, a thought popped up in his head. What if he asked for a small bit of favor from Braxton?
He took out a battery from his pockets and presented it to him.
"Can you take this and give me a little bit of your Aubility Power?"
Braxton took the battery and immediately poured energy into it—without hesitation and with no questions asked.
"Okay, bestie!"